Author Archives: Lion Rock Institute

(Next Magazine, 2016/3/10, A002, Second Opinion, Bill Stacey) The dark side of localism Localism is on the rise. Edward Leung Tin-kei, a localist candidate, did not win a Legco seat in the New Territories East by-election. However, the more than 66,000 votes he garnered suggest that the sentiment to distance, orContinue reading>

(Next Magazine, 2016/2/11, A002, Second Opinion, Bill Stacey) Safeguard our freedom The Heritage Foundation just named Hong Kong, for the 22nd consecutive year, the freest economy in the world. Some people are mystified by this singular recognition. They see instead creeping government intervention, rising vested interests and half the population inContinue reading>

(Next Magazine, 2016/1/14, A002, Second Opinion, Bill Stacey) Universal pension, universal failure Hong Kong became the prosperous success that it is today, precisely because we avoided the depredations of the welfare state established across the western world in the post war period. Without commitments from government to provide universally for theContinue reading>

(Next Magazine, 2015/12/17, A002, Second Opinion, Bill Stacey) Leave the property market alone CY Leung is half right. It is not the job of the government to guarantee that property prices will not drop. As if on cue, the property market reportedly peaked in September.Yet given our Chief Executive’s uncharacteristic restrainedContinue reading>

(Next Magazine, 2015/11/19, A002, Second Opinion, Bill Stacey) Government intervention corrupts AS our former Chief Executive Donald Tsang stood trial for misconduct while in office, Legco rejected last week an attempt to extend anticorruption law to cover the head of government. By focusing primarily on taking pecuniary benefits, this narrow viewContinue reading>

(Next Magazine, 2015/10/08, A002, Second Opinion, Bill Stacey) Revive the growth of our capital In a very real sense, we ride on the shoulders of our forefathers. We owe our prosperity to the patient building up of capital by the people who have come before us. Their patient saving and investmentContinue reading>

(Next Magazine, 2015/9/10, A004, Second Opinion, Bill Stacey) A perfect storm There is every chance that Hong Kong’s economy is headed towards a perfect storm, where policies that might once have seemed sensible and affordable, can become a crushing burden. Think about the cumulative economic challenges. We have a symbiotic relationshipContinue reading>

(Next Magazine, 2015/8/20, A002, Second Opinion, Bill Stacey) Learn from Singapore If you have the wrong diagnosis you prescribe the wrong medicine and put at risk the health of the patient. That is the problem with our Chief Executive, Mr. CY Leung’s recent aim to address Hong Kong’s illnesses by abandoningContinue reading>

(Next Magazine, 2015/7/23, A002, Second Opinion, Bill Stacey) Freeing the electricity market Hong Kong is known to have the world’s freest economy, an accolade repeatedly affirmed by both the Fraser Institute and Heritage Foundation. Many advocates of capitalism, however, disparage our economy as a hopelessly cartelized, uncompetitive and driven by theContinue reading>

(Next Magazine, 2015/7/2, A002, Second Opinion, Bill Stacey) Trim our CE’s power Greece, 2,500 years after its prime, still captures the imagination and is central to debates about the best form of government and what government should do. Lessons from the ancient Greek city-states to Hong Kong are also apt. ThoseContinue reading>